Friends of the Belarusian Children's Hospice

Artyom Pilipenko is five years old.  Not long after his birth there were worrying signs that not all was well.  At the age of 9 months, Artyom had bronchitis and started to have life-threatening fits.  He spent the next 9 months on a ventilator in an intensive care unit and developed a raft of serious conditions: epilepsy, slow disintegration of the nervous system, a lung condition, loss of the swallowing reflex, weakening of the optic nerve.  Following an unsuccessful procedure to insert a tube into his throat, Artyom’s larynx and trachea contracted and he had to have a tracheotomy to enable him to breathe.

Nadia was born in December 2006 and was a much longed for first child. Nadia was immediately diagnosed with Patau syndrome, a genetic disorder. She was not expected to live for more than a month and was hospitalised at once.

Artyom has been unwell all his life. Shortly after birth he was diagnosed with childhood cerebral palsy and learning difficulties.

On 2nd September 2008 the Belarusian Children’s Hospice ‘hot line’ service received a call from the Mikhin family. The family were desperate for the hospice to help their baby, Artemy, who had been diagnosed at birth on 12 August 2007, with Williams Syndrome.

Olya is an exceedingly attractive and tough young lady. In her short life she has been through more than most people could bear in a long one. At the age of 12 she was diagnosed with sarcoma.

Danil is 12 years old and football mad. When we met him at the summer holiday centre, he was proud to demonstrate all the English words he knew and followed us wherever we went with a mischievous twinkle in his eye in the hope that we might kick a ball with him.